Costume



Aug. 20, 1935.

C. M. G. DE DUBOIS COSTUME Filed Sept. 26, 1952 PatentedAug. .20, 1935 hcachet M invention -r'elates broadlyto'costumes,and more particularly'to' a suit "adapted-to closely-fit 'tr e'tody, whether it be'huma'n orariim =1 An obj'ect' of "meunvention is theprovision of means adapted toclosely j'eiic'ase the head in such a-jman'ner as to'confor'm to theconfigurations f thy-f c 1 v .N 1 i Another object of the invention 'isthe provision ofasuitable co'sturne'of the'class referred'to whichreadily adapts itffor various stage, effects; the" ducubn'or anentirescene in silhouette; "Th

time to this' maybe incertain-colors, as'si lvet; gela tiaek orvariegated, ei 'e'eteraz' rne production of silhouettes both for motion'pictures a'ridonthestagefrequires at the present timeexpertlightingd'ue to the fact that the actors must have speciallyprepared material, the ,face *cov- Y ered with suitablepaintgand "thelike.- With my 7 inverition,'- however-, the:face" is* encased' with aglove-tight fitting fabric, as is likewise the body,

the eye of the observer. It is also within the pur- View of my inventionto so arrange the glove fitting material that hair may be simulated inthe,

material, or any other effect upon the Said material. Within the purviewof my invention, any

'more perfect, or grotesque. o

that various configurations,

which will glow in the dark, and yet show the entire outline of the bodyof its. wearer.

Other objects of the invention, adaptations and uses thereof willreadily suggest themselves to those skil1ed in the art, and with thespecific objects of inexpensiveness of construction, attractiveness,ready adaptability'for use and service in view, the invention consistsin the novel anduse- A ful provision, formation, construction,associamember-for the'head of a wearer incorporating 'tion and relativearrangement of parts, members and features, .all as shown in a certainembodiment in the accompanying drawing, described generally, andmoreparticularly pointed out in the claim. w

I In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the costume in ac-' tual use,

Figure 2 is a .side elevation of an encasing the invention,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, I r

gppnca ioalsepcember-2 i-jizezoei v Figure 4 is a tive v w swa W arid bydimmirig the-'lig hting,"all'figures appear insilhouette with resultingpleasing effect upon.

feature ofthe body may be accentuated, made 5 body of its wearer.

6, 1932,f Serial 0.

of the invention, Y

'nlarged view, partly fragmenf ti famodificationpfthe m nam Figure 6isa'front' elevation representing modifieatmnor the structuredisclosed'iniFigures 'l i 3 and 4. f I 1 p e Referring now with"particularity to the draw 1' luding-"bodyQlegFand arm porticrisfwhich isa a'p ed to jc'losel-yf 'e'r'ic'a'se the sour?? its wearr. Th disjalsoenease or covered bysuitable mater al theneck portion 'of sai'd h'eadibeing separable 'in the"-presei-it "instance from thefbody' enc'amaterial Ll Referring tdFig'ures' 2' 'a'nd 3, th "fabric 'is glove-fitting upon .tlie'head and neck ri' such a'manner as to onform-tomegen er'al' outline of airprotuberances of the anatomy, such as menose,mouth, chin',Jforehead;-aiidthe like; mm-der to accomplish this-result;T have discovered I that the sea'm for the fabric "ShOultl -be placedsubstantially along a median line, as indicated by the dotted line ofFigure l, at 3, this line separating the head or skull so'that the seampasses centrally of the bridge of the nose, jaw,

r aveprevided a costu e comprising as ra l e 10 chin and forehead. Theseam is illustrated in the skull is adapted. to be overlapped, asshown'at.

snaps, hooks and eyes, or the like; -'Ihe fabric.

, Figure 3where it is shown that two portions of the fabric, are united.The fabric rearwardly of islikewise glove-fitting and the seam 3 acts toprevent stretch of the fabric in the zone of the seam. It might appearat first instance that theseam would not function in the mannerspecified but actual experience and tests show that the seam positionedas aforesaid actually causes the fabric: to glove-fit the face withoutany bulging between sides of the nose and the cheeks. It is,

of course, realized that the fabricmust be of glove-fitting charactersuch as, for instancethe type of material used in the manufacture offabric gloves which closely confo-rms'to the shape of the fingers andthe hands. Thus, if the fabric is not stretchedtoo tightly,theseamsiwill permit the remaining portion of the fabric to closely conformto the face or for that matter to the vThe ears may be accom ,modatedias indicatedin Figures 2 and 3. In

place of using the seam alone, a bendable material, such 'as a wire,maybe placed within the seam for the purpose of causing the fabric tomore closely approximate the contour of the face or for producingvarious grotesque features; for

' preferably the latter. Also thebody portionof the material may havecut away portions, as in-j dicated at 6, 1 and 8 to accommodate theeyes,

instance, a deep bulge or convexity of the nose,

and the'foreheadshaped differently. Cardboard may be used, if thegeneral character of the mask or encasement has been predetermined.How-. ever, it is apparent that with my invention, a predetermination ofthe exact configuration desired is not necessary if the wire is used, orthe actual configuration may be followed by utilizingthe invention, asshown in the figures liiglire 5 is a view similar to Eigure-gfthe wirebeingshown'in place at5'.

The body portion including the legs and arms may be seamed asdesired',,the seams in all in stances being indicated by the dottedlines; Furthermore,the mask for the head will have. an extended neckportion adapted to feither overlie the body portion or be encasedtherebeneath',

nos r raad the m a As stated in the objects, hairrnaybepainted upon thehead membergof the costume if desired;

or the hair portion maybe molded to formjn the fabric. ,Asfurther statedin the objects, the suit itself may be of difierent colored .materials,such assilver, gold, variegated, and the like. In act ual'operation,thedifierent actors are nca edi ma r al f th a rkstet i flesh color, theentire body appears in-the midej if black-,then the actors, taking adancing sceneiorinstance, ;willz appear to be insilhouette;The-silhouette'appearance,;particularly if the actors are all women, befurther enhanced as .to beauty by placing'overthe wearing apparel asheer drapery or. gown so that thergeneral; bodyqfigure is rea ilyseentherethrough, then by pro r light ing. from behind, all of theactorsappear dark.

This is particularlyuseful-in motion pictures when .it is desired toshow scenes in silhouette. Apar- .ticular object isthe use -of.the;invention-for mothe discus thrower. j" the suit would be in purewhite or in gold or sil- .:,ver; or any other color desired,- givingpleasing efiects for stage purposes, particularly while p s n U So faras the inventoris aware, and after'some jexperience intheartto whichthis invention appertains, there has been produced no t ype'of suittrally of the front thereof. i a CQNCHI-TA MARINA GUIROLADE DUBOIS.

tion picture purposes, and particularly cartoons, 9, large .number ofwhich appear in silhouette. Therefore, it is possible to use humanactors with suits incorporation my invention representative of variouscharacters. Usually the characters are drawn by skilled painters ordraftsmen at great expense to a producing'company; however, with myinvention, the "same effects are accomplished with human actorsatreduced expense;

. {Figure 4,51 have illustrated the use of my invention upon the body ofa wear'enindicating Thus, with my invention,

which is so constructed as to be glove-fitting over the head and insuchamanner as to* readily conformto the features, of the head and face. Theinventoris aware that tights have been used upon the body but thegeneral combination of abody and head encasing material for thepurpose Vintended by this invention'has, so far as the inventor is aware, neverbeen practiced in a; satis-' factory mannen V Such material as glovesilk and material of the 'charactensuch as employed for the making oftights maygbe readily employed in the practicing of, my, invention,although I do notspecifically confinemy invention As a new articleofmanufacture, a flexible fabric mask forthe headlconstructed and arrangedto. completely enclose the head and glove fit the head of the wearenanda bendable wire within the mask extending lengthwise andcenin use tosuch materials. I

